Alaska Again

Scott is on his 8th day of his last Alaska trip.  He comes home tonight, after midnight.  We are so ready to have him come home.

In the meantime, here's what we have been up to while he's been gone (it's been a lot)....

Josh did an extra credit science experiment, where he layered liquids of differing densities.

Kate still doesn't like nursery, unless I'm sitting right next to her.  With my calling, I can't be in there all the time, so when I need to leave to drop off and collect the primary rolls, she has to come with me.  Two Sundays ago, we left Kate's blanket at the church.  We went back that evening to look for it, but couldn't find it anywhere.  We have a spare blanket, that is the exact same, but it's newer and not as worn, and she has never liked it.  She would always toss it aside and ask for "det" (blan"ket").  But without her favorite blanket, she was forced to use the newer one for a whole week.  When we went to church last Sunday, they unlocked the toy cupboard in nursery, and when the doors opened up, there was her blanket!  She ran over and grabbed it, and was so happy to have it back.  But any points nursery had won by producing her blanket, were lost when she got hit in the head with a shopping cart. 

Walking the halls with mom.

This week was the book fair at the elementary school.  The kids were begging me to take them.  So on Thursday, I took Owen and Kate, and we met up with each kid during their lunch hour.  Because they each have lunch at different times, we were at the school for almost an hour, and went through the book fair three separate times (Nate, Aaron, then Sara).  Owen was weepy, and laid down on the floor in a tantrum several times.  Kate wanted to grab everything in sight, so I had to hold her the whole time.  My arm was so tired by the time it was done.  But the kids got some good books, and were so happy I had taken the time to go with them.  By the time we got home, it was an hour past Kate's nap time, and she was not happy.  I set her down for 30 seconds to fix a bottle, and she clung to my leg crying.  Once I got her upstairs and gave her a bottle, she was instantly out.  Poor girl.

Thursday night was pack meeting.  Last month Aaron was supposed to receive his Bobcat, but pack meeting was the same night as Josh's middle school choir concert.  Scott was out of town, and Josh's grade depended on him going to the concert, so Aaron had to miss his pack meeting so I could take Josh to his concert.  His leader said she'd save his award for this next month.  When we went to pack meeting this week, Aaron was so excited to get his award.   

He got to carry the flag in and post it.

They did a fun Nerf gun turkey shoot (the balloons had turkey heads drawn on them).  The boys loved it.  

When it came time for awards, they only had one to give out - to another kid.  Aaron turned to look at me, and I could tell he was really upset he wasn't getting his award.  I walked back to his scout leader and reminded her that Aaron was supposed to get his Bobcat.  She had forgotten, and was worried that it was lost.  The pack meeting ended, and the boys went for dessert.  While Aaron was busy eating his rice krispie treat, his scout leader came over to me and told me they had found the award.  She said we could save it till next time, or he could just get it now.  I worried that it would be anticlimactic because the meeting had ended, and no one was paying attention.  Aaron overheard, and said he wanted to get it now.  So we went over to the pack leader, and his scout leader explained to him that he needed to give Aaron his award now.  The pack leader said there is a really cool ceremony that goes along with getting the Bobcat, and Aaron needed to get to experience the ceremony.  So he fake gave Aaron the award (so Aaron would be happy he had received an award that night, like I had promised him he would), then took the award back to save for next pack meeting, when Aaron will get the full ceremony.  

Kate has discovered dressing up this week.  She has always loved wearing "pretties" (necklaces, bracelets, shoes, etc).  But this week she has really taken off with wanting pretty things on.  I got down a tutu that had been Sara's from years and years ago, and Kate wore it for three days straight.

Not to be outdone, Owen had to dress up too.

She even wore it to gymnastics.

And while Kate is dressing up, Owen has been busy building forts.  This fort in the corner of my bedroom has been there all week, and gets reconstructed every single day when Mom "accidentally" knocks it down, in hopes of reclaiming her pillows.

When we went to Aberdeen the last time, Josh brought home a giant zucchini.  It had been sitting on my counter for a very long time, and I was worried that it had gone bad.  But, when I finally cut into it, it was still good.  So I shredded the whole thing up and turned it into zucchini bread (14 loaves).  As I started mixing up the batter, I realized I'd run out of flour, so these two made a quick trip to Albertsons with me, and we swung through the McDonalds drive through on the way home to get them some lunch.

Notice the tutu.

It was the second time this week they had McDonalds for lunch.  They are quite fond of chicken nuggets and french fries. 

Nate offered a prayer one night for dinner, and said, "And bless mom not to be mad when we are at school and she has to clean up all our messes".  It was very appropriate.  I'm looking forward to having Scott back home to help with cleaning up those messes.  It's a really big job on my own.

Owen got sick.  Friday he had a really rough day.  He cried about EVERYTHING.

 When 8:40 rolled around, he came to me and asked to go to bed.  He fell asleep instantly.  The next day (Saturday) he took a 5 hour nap.  I knew then that something was wrong.  When he woke up from his nap, I took his temperature, and it was 102.  I was supposed to teach Sharing Time the next day, but told the other counselors they would have to fill in for me, since I would need to stay home with my sick little boy.  He's better now, and I'm thankful it was just a fever and wasn't accompanied by any vomiting.

I didn't get that lucky with Kate.  She had been off for the last few days.  One night this week, it took three tries at getting her to go to bed.  She ended up being the last kid to go to sleep, which is very unlike her.

And she's been extra clingy and just wants to sit on my lap.  She needs her daddy to come home and share in the snuggles.

And then today, while I was at Owen's gymnastics class, Kate started crying for no reason.  I picked her up and held her, but she still kept crying.  I could tell something was wrong.  She finally stopped crying, and just laid her head on my shoulder.  I stood with her, swaying back and forth, thinking she would fall asleep.  All of a sudden, she lifted her head up, and starting vomiting all over the front of me.  I just stood there, not knowing what to do, as she continued to throw up all over me.  When she finally stopped, all the other moms jumped in to help me.  One went to retrieve paper towels from the bathroom, and another handed me her baby's cloth burp rag.  I cleaned myself and Kate up best we could, then pulled Owen out of class and drove home.  The smell was unbelievable on the drive home.

When we got home, I had Sara put Kate in a bath, while I cleaned myself up.  It had dripped down the whole front of me, clear down to my knees, and I was soaked through to my skin.  After Kate and I both were cleaned up, we snuggled up together on the couch, where she fell asleep.  I moved her to her crib, but I have a feeling that most of my day today will end up on the couch snuggled up with her.  As long as she doesn't drench me in throw up again, I won't mind the snuggles.